Personal criticisms of Vicky Karayiannis are from her public statements, claims, stories, antagonistic interactions with others I've witnessed on social media and her likely untruthfulness surrounding Chris's passing.
I do not encourage ill intent her way.
June, 7th/18.
In the following article from Alt. Nation, Vicky briefly, and for the first time, mentions Chris’s visible bald spot he displayed on the back of his head. “I didn’t know about that. . .”
Oddly, with some of us questioning how he ended up with a possible head injury, Vicky overlooked the large chuck of hair missing , with a bloody scalp, her husband had on the back of his head that night?
I've seen Vicky dodge legitimate questions and seemingly ignored images that showed Chris's missing patch of hair, evident from Soundgarden's last concert. Then almost a year later, Vicky officially acknowledges Chris's head injury for the first time when Renee, a friend of mine, responded to Vicky's post with
". . .could've also been caused by the head trauma Chris Cornell had."
then,
"Yes it could have most certainly exacerbated all the symptoms." responded Vicky.
HEAD INJURY ACKNOWLEDGED.
In this Alt. Nation article a month before the Detroit news article, published May, 15th/2018, Vicky answers Dr. Oz: "I didn't know about that, so I looked at the footage from the show, it was the first time I did it, at some point in July. As soon as he turned around, I saw a huge bald spot in the back on his head. I thought uh oh, maybe this has been photoshopped, so I sent messages out to his bandmates and Soundgarden's photographer, and I asked if anyone saw anything. The photographer sent that to me and said, 'I didn't notice until I noticed.' His bandmates also saw it, they saw there was a weird bald spot on his head."
So which is it? A bald spot due to male pattern baldness at Chris's age or a head injury? Vicky can't make the claim "I didn't know about that." if Chris's missing chunk of hair was indeed due to age related hair loss. Vicky was married to Chris for 13 years! Also, photoshopped? Why? Where and who is this photographer to speak for themselves?
Ken Settle, officially to my knowledge, is the photographer who took the last photographs of Soundgarden in Detroit on May, 17th/17. Vicky claims to have ". . . sent messages out to his bandmates and Soundgarden's photographer, and I asked if anyone saw anything. The photographer sent that to me and said, 'I didn't notice until I noticed.'
However, Ken Settle never states that Vicky contacted him, nor were any of Ken's pictures released to the public show Chris at angles where the back of the head was photographed.
Though it's possible Ken may have photographed the unflattering head shots of Chris without releasing the images.
For me, that moment came in the late night/early morning hours of May 17, 2017, into May 18, 2017.
I had just photographed the triumphant Soundgarden show at Detroit’s Fox Theatre. I was sitting at my computer editing the photos from that night. Thoughts of how much Chris Cornell was smiling that night and how much more he was interacting with the audience filled my head. Chris was shaking hands and fist-bumping everyone in the first few rows. He was interacting with the other band members more than usual as well… much more than I had seen before in my twenty-five years of photographing the band.
I got a late-night call from a friend of mine asking if I’d heard the news.
My friend told me that Chris Cornell died in Detroit shortly after the show! Immediately, I went online to see what was being published and at that time, stories were just starting to trickle in.
Additionally, if Chris's bandmates noticed, which I believe they absolutely noticed, they acted as if nothing were amiss.
Examine the following images and the footage of Soundgarden's performance of "Black Hole Sun" in Detroit May, 17th/17.
Chris's precise missing hair on the back of his head was not of natural age related balding.
VideoGremmie (account no longer available)
Detroit, Michigan. May, 17th/17.
Video shot in high definition in AVCHD mode using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS30 using “P” mode in ISO 3200 exposure and 1/60 min shutter speed.
Detroit, Michigan. May, 17th/17.
*At the 3:00 minute mark of Robin Robert's (ABC News Good Morning America) interview with Vicky is where this screen capture of Paul's shot was taken from.
In Comparison: The Starlight Theatre.
This video (from SbMick ) is of Soundgarden performing at The Starlight Theatre in Kansas City on Sunday, May 14th/17. This is 3 days before the band's final concert in Detroit; the second to last show. In the entirety of The Starlight Theatre performance, Chris did not have any notable portion of his hair missing anywhere on his head!
Evident during Soundgarden's performance of "Jesus Christ Pose."
Chris's missing chunk hair from the back of his head, on his last night alive, was not due to male pattern baldness 72 hours prior!
This video (from Joel begin) shows a close up, alternate angle of Soundgarden performing "Outshined" from their final performance at The Fox Theatre in Detroit May, 17th/17.
As Chris paced the stage (likely impaired from the sedative butalbital) the back of his head shows that large chunk of hair missing!
Evident and shown several times.
THE DETROIT NEWS: MAY, 15TH/2018 TO FOLLOW.
In the Detroit News article (May, 15th/18) Vicky addressed Chris's head injury in depth:
“. . .He did not have control of his faculties due to toxicology, perhaps even exacerbated by other factors, including a head injury, which was referenced in two EMS reports that were left out of the autopsy report.”
You see that word again? Exacerbated was what Vicky stated in her answer to Renee, back on March, 3rd 2018, regarding Chris's head injury.
Now in the article, she's crying “botched investigation” when many others, including myself, have been screaming botched investigation from day one!
Why would something as serious as a head injury be mentioned twice but absent in the autopsy report?
*UPDATE: I obtained a partial documentation, from a channel I came across on topics of Chris's passing, of Chris's patient care report (DMCare Express) after the publication of this post. The person, after I've asked how she obtained the documentation, as she titled her video "BTW..I HAVE PERMISSION TO PUT THIS OUT THERE.. . . ., " answered that Vicky was the one who shared it with her.
June, 18th/2018 is when the uploader published her video with this partial documentation.
This indicates Vicky released Chris's patient care report to the uploader after the publication of the Detroit News article, the article published May,15th/2018.
The release of this documentation demonstrates strongly that Vicky knew of Chris's head trauma all along.*
The Detroit News article continues with, "a written report by the crew from DMCare Express, the ambulance company owned by the Detroit Medical Center, stated: “Laceration to back of skull. Minor bleeding noted upon crew arrival.”
It's highly likely Vicky knew of Chris's laceration to the back of his head.
There's audio of the First Responder's remarks stating. "trauma to the back of the head." that was public from May, 18th/2017.
No official news article nor Vicky cared to mention Chris's blatant head injury until May,15th/2018.
Why wasn't Chris's head injury mentioned in the autopsy report? Here are two things I personally believe:
1. Chris's head trauma could've just been hair ripped out with a minor bleeding scalp and not actual trauma to the skull when examined by M.E. Theodore Brown M.D.
Regardless, I assume minor injuries should be noted.
2. Chris's autopsy report was rushed. From what I know from medical professionals, autopsy reports are quite lengthy, anywhere from 30 to 50 pages.
Chris's 5 paged autopsy report was released to the public 2 weeks after his death on Friday, June 2nd/2017.
Within Chris's post-mortem report, there are no anatomical sketches of his body. Though with my understanding, there should be thorough anterior and posterior examinations of the deceased; minor injuries to be documented as well.
CREMATION AND THE GREEK OTHORDOX.
Speaking of thorough, and personally to my revolt, Vicky actually states within the article that, "If the autopsy report was thorough, I believe some of this could have been avoided."
Yet Vicky's decision to cremate Chris's body, precisely on Tuesday May, 23rd/2017, 6 days after Chris's death (Chris Cornell's Remains Cremated Ahead of Private Funeral Service.) way ahead of the funeral strongly indicates secretcy, something to hide by destroying the body thus destroying crucial, additional evidence not picked up from a single physical examination.
However, Chris's nine fractured ribs with internal hemorrhaging, an uneven ligature pattern and the other findings examined not in-line with a suicide by hanging, was enough for us "conspiracy theorists" to be concerned about.
The Detroit News article covers all of the questions and concerns Vicky should have been vocal about in the first place.
Additionally, I found that Vicky and her family are of the Greek Orthodox religion. What I know about the faith is that cremation of the deceased is strictly forbidden. Chris had to convert to Greek Orthodox before he and Vicky were permitted to wed 13 years ago.
In the matter of cremations, the inference is that there is no resurrection of the body, contrary to what we read in the New Testament, and thus the cremation returns the body to its basic elements. It is also important to note that the Orthodox Christian funeral service is written on the premise that a body is present. Consequently, whether a body is cremated, lost at sea, or otherwise absent, the funeral service cannot be conducted.
. . . cremation goes contrary to Holy Scripture. One good example is found in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians where we read, “...glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s (6:20).” In other words, our bodies and souls belong to God, and not to us. Therefore, we have no right to do with our bodies what we please. In addition to all of this, there is even a greater reason why cremation is contrary to our Christian faith. Simply put, it desecrates the body. Moreover, the so-called ashes from a cremation are not ashes. They are the crushed and pulverized skull and bones of the body, the arms and legs. They are put through a grinding machine which actually turns the bones into dust.
Finally, for an Orthodox Christian to fulfill the wishes of a member of the family who wishes to be cremated after death actually defiles the sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, Holy Unction, Holy Matrimony, and the Holy Eucharist by considering the wishes of the deceased more important than the divine blessing of the Holy Spirit upon the deceased body throughout the years that the body was the recipient of those holy blessings. On the basis of these realities, it is the responsibility of not only the clergy, but of all our faithful Greek Orthodox Christians to do whatever they can do, in a positive way, to impress upon those who accept this pagan practice that it is wrong. The fact that the deceased body of an Orthodox Christian receives multiple blessings from the Lord in preparation of the eternal Kingdom any violence upon a dead body is the desecration of God’s temple. - Regarding Suicides and Cremation: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
However, cremation may have been permitted for Vicky to undertake, and possibly what Chris may have wanted after his death, from the Church considering particular circumstances, or for any unknown reasons. With restrictions around permitted cremation, the ashes must be buried and not scattered. - CREMATION: GREEK ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS ARE ALLOWED BUT WITH RESTRICTIONS.
This explains personally to me why Vicky buried Chris's ashes at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
CHRIS'S HEAD INJURY: WHAT HAPPENED?
“You can clearly see a gash or at least a visible big bald spot in pictures and video footage. It was confirmed by the band and crew — they said they saw it at the show and not at sound check. . ."
“You can’t tell people there was no laceration when it’s documented, and we can all see it.”
Of course we all saw it Vicky! Now the only question is, how in the hell did he get that laceration?
Vicky Cornell said she believes the wound happened after sound check because she said his bandmates didn’t notice anything wrong before then.
So what happened? Did Chris get into a fight? If so, with who? One of his bandmates? Martin Kirsten or was it with one or both of the alleged black bodyguards that escorted Chris?
The alleged two bodyguards were witnessed by a fan (view pinned comment) the night of Soundgarden's final show before their performance.
Vicky claims that . . . his bandmates didn't notice anything wrong before then. but where are Matt, Kim and Ben to speak for themselves?
Outside agencies are mentioned though it's odd Vicky speaks on everyone's behalf. It’s been a year and not one of the remaining members of Soundgarden mentions Chris’s head injury, let alone utter a single word of the circumstances surrounding Chris's death to the public.
Again, where are Matt, Kim and Ben to confirm what Vicky stated? Where is anybody to say for themselves what they said and saw?
Where is Dr. Richard J. Cote and his now supposed "3 paged report" regarding his independent analysis of Chris's autopsy report? I emailed Dr. Cote back in March/2018 but yet to receive a response.
Where is the bodyguard Martin Kirsten? Who supposedly kicked down two doors and "found Chris." Vicky claims in the article that she didn't fight with Chris on the phone that night, but the statement made by Martin within the police report states otherwise, she was angry.
The article continues with what many fans have been asking for a year. "What happened to Chris's head that night?" and "Why was the investigation into Chris's death ruled a suicide so quickly?
The police report released to the public last year only has Martin Kirsten interviewed, the last person to witness Chris Cornell alive.
No other interviews took place with Vicky, bandmates, hotel staff or the Fox Theatre crew, NOBODY!
"Nothing in the autopsy report reflects a head wound."
"Within hours of his death, before they received a toxicology report, before talking to his family, and despite the head trauma, the death was deemed a suicide. Those pieces didn’t fit on May 18, 2017, and they don’t fit today. One plus one has never equaled two in Chris Cornell’s death."
Quoted Jeffrey L. Schulman, an attorney who specializes in insurance cases. Schulman and Vicky were allegedly scheduled for an appointment with the M.E. Theodore Brown M.D. in Wayne County, Detroit. This was supposedly back on Friday, October, 6th 2017 according to The Blast.
Then on October 10th/2017 followed an article from Alt. Nation: EVIDENCE THAT CHRIS CORNELL’S WIDOW ACQUIRED WITH LAWYER REVEALED, EXAMINER CANCELS MEETING.
The meeting with the medical examiner never happened!
Does Vicky really want to reopen Chris's case?
Was Vicky really "shocked" when Chris's death was ruled as a suicide so quickly?
*She cremated Chris's body on Tuesday May, 23rd/2017, 6 days after Chris's death.
Also, before Chris's funeral. (Chris Cornell's Remains Cremated Ahead of Private Funeral Service.)
What about those "tissue slides" Vicky allegedly obtained from Wayne County back on October 6th 2017?
DRUGS DID NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE CAUSE OF CHRIS'S DEATH.
“The poor choice of phrasing has misled the public to believing he was of sound mind and body.” "So some conspiracy people think if Chris wasn’t impaired, he would never have killed himself, and so he must have been killed — and then they start getting into the rest of the holes.”
The medical examiner did not find dangerous levels of prescription drugs nor was there illegal drugs in Chris's system. Therefore, as the medical examiner states, drugs did not contribute to to the cause of death! Vicky is apparently unsatisfied with the medical examiner's ruling so she, like I mentioned in my last post, attempts to perpetuate that the medical examiner was erroneous in ruling out the drugs as the cause of death. Also, I believe she attempts to manipulate the public with appealing to emotion, using the online interactions she's had with fans who've questioned and criticized her, but labeled them as bullies.
Drugs did not contribute to Chris "taking his own life." That being so, what other factors could Vicky claim that lead Chris to "do himself in?" All from what I've seen, there's been desperation, solely from her, to find a way to spin the narrative that the drugs could have been responsible for Chris's death.
Why though? For financial gain?
Once again, where is Martin Kirsten? He was the last man to see Chris alive, supposedly to have given Chris with 2 'sleeping pills."
Why doesn't Vicky hold any suspicion towards the bodyguard?
“This has nothing to do with money, plain and simple.” It never has. The family will receive a total of zero dollars if the medical examiner’s report is corrected. The notion that finances are involved is totally false and made up by conspiracy theorists who have no knowledge of the actual facts.” - Jeffrey L. Schulman.
In the article, it mentions that Schulman is Vicky's attorney, yet leaves out that he specializes in insurances cases.
"Jeffrey represents commercial and individual policyholders in complex insurance coverage matters including insurance broker liability; construction defect; product liability; director and officer; multimedia; asbestos; #metoo matters; and first-party claims. He also handles a wide variety of substantial business/commercial litigation and contract disputes. Characterized as “humane and brilliant” by the Legal500, Jeffrey focuses his practice to include individuals and companies in diverse industries such as manufacturing, retail, entertainment, hospitality, construction and real estate, and private equity firms." - Jeffrey L. Schulman.
Barbiturates is acknowledged for the first time and states barbiturates wasn't prescribed to Chris, but the sedative isn't mentioned any further.
Vicky herself doesn't mention the drug either.
So where did the butalbital come from?
When and how did Chris get it in his system? Why would Chris have it in his system?
To conclude, it appeared that Vicky did not count on several fans inquiring , expressing concerns and doubts for so long.
From what I saw with Vicky, she decided to go full on "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mode, acting like she's been on board with the questions and concerns outside of the narrative all along. It cannot be stressed enough that Vicky had Chris cremated way before a second autopsy could've been conducted.
Afterwards, she went on and made additional claims, evident in the article discussed here, along with her stories from Chris's death changed multiple times.
I've quickly come to suspect Vicky may have been mentally and physically abusive towards Chris, a likely culprit of Chris's ripped out chunk of hair. It's been reported that Chris was with her before flying out (or drove) to Detroit on May 17th/2017.
I’ve also read that Vicky had a particular outburst in the past.
Lastly, from within a mysterious “Letter from a Relative”, (examined later in another post) “Vicky was emotionally abusive. She attacked him in his worst moments and he couldn't handle it.”
Head injury, head injury, head injury
You got a kiss for me,
it hits me hard
You got a fist for me, you love so hard
My hands on my head, your words are like arrows
My hands on my head, there's permanent damage
You got a kiss for me, it's sweet and frail
You got a fist for me, sure to impale
My hand on my head, your words are like arrows -
My hand on my head, my mind growing narrow”
- HEAD INJURY, SOUNDGARDEN.